by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

SAN ANTONIO - The San Antonio Spurs hadn't played fair with these overmatched Memphis Grizzlies for most of the night, but this third quarter sequence was even meaner than normal.

Tony Parker drove the lane as if it were the autobahn - no speed limit, no one policing the road, no problem - then decided that the wide-open layup that he'd earned wasn't good enough.

He got greedy because, well, that's what the Spurs are doing as they try to seize this chance at a championship. His bullet pass to the right corner found Manu Ginobili, and the Spurs' super sub sized up his three-pointer in the same patient, poised way that an archer hones in on his target.

Bull's-eye. Ballgame. Two to zero series lead a foregone conclusion, even with 16 minutes of action left to play. Right?

Not so fast. The Spurs eventually held on 93-89 in overtime, but it took a late surge from Tim Duncan in the extra period to get them there.

Parker, whose knuckles underneath those racing gloves were as white as the Grizzlies' faces as they fell behind by 18 on Ginobili's three, finished with a career high 18 assists to go with 15 points. He had calmed the restless locals midway through the fourth for good measure, hitting a jumper in the lane that pushed the Spurs' lead back to 10 points after the Grizzlies' 16-6 run had cut the lead to single digits. Parker followed with a three of his own that put San Antonio up 13, and the most impressive of starts to the Spurs' series seemed to be all but complete before Memphis' final push.

The Grizzlies finished regulation play on a 15-2 run that forced overtime and left the AT&T Center surly and stunned. It included Zach Randolph's long-awaited awakening, was sparked by a soaring Quincy Pondexter dunk from the right baseline over Boris Diaw, and was capped by a right-handed Conley runner going left with 18 seconds left. The Spurs had one last chance to win it in regulation, but a Duncan three at the buzzer from the left wing was off the mark.

He was on-target every time from then on. Duncan's two runners in the lane and a putback layup in the extra period gave the Spurs what they needed, and the Grizzlies couldn't capture what would have been a momentum-shifting moment.

"I hate that we gave up that big of a lead in that situation, but we were good enough to go to overtime and not let it affect us and get a win," said Duncan, who finished 17 points, nine rebounds and four blocks and played just 31 minutes because of foul trouble.

Said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich: "Obviously (Duncan) basically took over for us in that overtime scorinng-wise, did a great job, just took it upon himself to be aggressive."

The mystery of Randolph's disappearance remained unsolved for most of the evening, as the Grizzlies forward followed his 1 of 8 shooting, two-point showing in Game 1 with a 6 of 18, 15-point outing in which most of his damage was done when the game was nearly out of reach. Memphis' only saving grace(land) going into Game 3 is that the FedEx Forum has been the Grizzlies' sanctuary of late, a place where they've won 18 of their last 19 games and lost just once since Feb. 5.

The Spurs continued to upstage the Grizzlies' much-ballyhooed defense, holding them to 34% shooting. San Antonio had five players score in double figures, with Duncan (17 points) leading the way.

As coach Lionel Hollins said afterward, the Grizzlies may have recaptured the 'Grit and Grind' spirit that led to their franchise-record 56 wins this regular season. And after losing by 22 points in the series opener on Sunday, Memphis is hoping this is the rare game that could come with momentum for the loser.

"The way we came back was (good)," Randolph told USA TODAY Sports. "But there's so many little things that we're not doing right that it's hurting us in the end. But we fought tonight. We've got to come out like that from the beginning and be ourselves.

"It's frustrating, but we've got to stay positive, keep working. We've got a couple days off to get some rest and get back to it man."

The Spurs continued to upstage the Grizzlies' much-ballyhooed defense, holding them to 34% shooting while shooting 43.4%. San Antonio had five players score in double figures, with Duncan (17 points) leading the way. And if the rest is going to help either team more, it's the Spurs squad that's been deemed elderly for so many years now.\

"It's huge," Duncan said. "We need it. Coming off the last series, (with) how physical this series is, the minutes (that) some like Tony is playing (and) some of the guys are playing, it's huge for usā?¦It'll be a much tougher game going into Memphis, but we'll use this time off to reenergize."